Range



Nov 15, 1938. 'H. T. HEALY 2,137,003

RANGE Filed July 25, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet' l INVENTOR M 7.8%41

ATTORNEY.

Nov. 15, 1938. H. T. HEALY 2,137,003

RANGE Filed July 25, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 a, 129.5 E i 1? 3 15 I I i i 4 s P s 5 i i i 15 i i I I: i 2 ilfj 21 hi 21 T02 I ATTORNEY- Patented Nov. 15, 1938 PATENT OFFICE RANGE Harold T. Healy, Milton, Mass, assignor to The Waverly Heating Supply 00., Boston, Mass, a corporation of Massachusetts Application July 25, 1936, Serial No. 92,683

Claims.

When an oil burner is installed in a cooking range designed to use coal for fuel, it is a common experience for the housewife to find that the oven doesnot heat as well as it did with coal. 5 Careful tests have shown that this is not merely a matter of bias or prejudice on the part of the housewife,.'but this condition usually does result in such a change. The present invention is especiallyconcerned with this condition, and it it) aims to devise a thoroughly practical solution for it.

1 It is also a further object of the invention to devise a'range which can be adjusted for these different kinds of fuel so that by making simple 15 changes, either can be used efficiently and satisfactorily. 1

Thenature of the invention will be readily understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying draw- PQ ings, and the-novel features will be particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings,

' Figure 1 Ba perspective view, partly in crosssection, of a return flue range embodying features 25 of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the upright adjustable flue plate shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal, diagrammatic view of the bottom flue space of the range shown in Fig. 4 is a vertical, sectional view through the downdraft portion of the range shown in Fig. 1; 1 Fig. 5 isa view similar to Fig. 4 through the up draft or return draft portion of the flue;

.15 Fig. 6 is a perspective view on a larger scale of the adjustable plate for the bottom flue;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a portion of the mainbottom of the range shown in Fig. 1, illustrating the construction designed to cooperate do with the plate shown in Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary; perspective view, showinga detail of the end plate of the range; and

Fig. 9 is an angular view of a modification.

Preliminary to a detailed description of the .45 construction shown, it may be pointed out that my experiments have indicated that the reason for the slow heating of an oven in a coal range, when a change is made to oil burning, is primarily due to the fact that the oil requires a considerably .50 smaller volume of air for eflicient combustion than does coal. The flues in the range necessarily are designed for the latter fuel, and they are made of such dimensions as to give a rate of flow or circulation of the products of combustion 55 through the flues'that guide these gaseous products into contact with the outer surfaces of the oven walls that will heat the oven effectively. When oil is substituted for coal, the smaller vol.- ume of these hot gaseous products of combustion flows at a slower rate through the hues, and they 5 lose their heat so rapidly to parts of the stove other than the oven, that the latter is not heated sufliciently. I have found that these difficulties can be overcome by making the flues adjustable, thus increasing the rate of flow of the hot gases, 10 and directing these gases into more efficient heating relationship to the oven. An arrangement designed to accomplish this result is illustrated in the drawings.

Referring first to Fig. 1, the construction there shown comprises a typical range which may be of any suitable type or design. It includes a fire box 2, an oven 3, the usual back flue space 4, and bottom flue space 5, all of these parts being constructed and arranged in a manner common heretofore. As is well understood by those skilled in this art, and as illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 3, the back flue space is divided by a central partition 6 (also shown in Fig. 7) into a down draft space A and an up draft space B, and this partitition extends forward under the oven, thus partly dividing the bottom flue so that the gases flowing down the flue A are compelled to travel forward under the oven, around the forward end of the partition 6 and then back horizontally under the rearward portion of the oven to the up draft section B of the back flue, and thence across a portion of the top of the stove and up the outlet into the stove p According to the present invention provision is made for adjusting the cross-sectional di mensions of these various flue spaces.

Considering first the down draft space A, Figs.

1, 3 and 4, in the back flue 4, a substantially 40 upright plate 1 is mounted in this space and preferably extends from the top to the bottom of it. The lower end of this plate, when in the particular position shown in Figs. 3 and 4, rests between a flange 8, cast in the bottom plate I0 of the range, and two or more lugs l2-l2 also cast in said bottom plate and spaced sufliciently from the flange to receive the plate 1. Near its upper end this plate is provided with a lug 13 through which a hole is formed, and immediately below this lug it is apertured for the passage therethrough of an arm or lug [4, Fig. 8, integral with the end plate l5 of the range, this lug having two holes l6 and i1 therethrough. When the plate is in the position shown in Fig. 4, a

cotter pin, or some equivalent device, 18, extends through the hole IS in the lug I4, and through the single hole in the lug 13, thus holding this plate against movement either forward or backward. Preferably, also, the top of the range is provided with a downwardly extending flange 20 behind which the upper edge of the plate 7 is located. Similar vertical flanges also are provided to engage the upright margins of the plate.

When the plate 1 is in the position shown in Fig. 4 it materially reduces the thickness of the back flue space through which the down draft occurs. In other words, the thickness of this space which is used, and is effective at this time, is restricted. However, by withdrawing the cotter pin l8 and moving the bottom of the plate I back of another pair of lugs 2l2|, sliding the top of this plate rearwardly and inserting the cotter pin in the hole I1, the plate then is held back substantially in contact with the end plate I5 of the range, as shown in Fig. 1. In this position the effective thickness of the flue space is materially increased. The plate is located in the latter position for burning coal and in the former for oil.

The sameprovision is made for adjusting the up draft section B of the back flue 4, the plate being indicated at I in Figs. 3 and 5. The parts cooperating with it to hold it in its different positions of adjustment are duplicates of those in the down draft section and certain of these parts are indicated by the same, but primed, numerals. Access to the cotter pin is afforded through the rear holes in the top of the range which are normally closed by the covers. In Fig. 5 the adjustable plate 1' is shown in its rearward position, this being the adjustment for burning coal. When oil is used as the fuel, this plate is adjusted into a forward position corresponding to that in which the plate 1 is shown in Fig. 4. In this connection it may be pointed out that the lugs l2 and 2! may be joined into an integral structure, as shown at 32 in Fig. 5, thus eliminating the space between the two lugs.

In essentially the same manner the effective thickness or depth of the bottom flue 5 may be adjusted. For this purpose the bottom plate of the range is provided with deep and shallow grooves 25 and 26, respectively, to receive the downwardly projecting margins of an adjustable plate 21, Figs. 1, 3 and 6. When the flange 0f the plate is in the deep groove 25, it rests against the bottom plate ll] of the range and the flue at that time is of maximum depth. This is the adjustment for coal. When, however, the margins of the plate 21 rest in the shallow groove 26, as shown in Fig. 4, then the depth of the bottom flue is materially reduced. A bolt 28 holds the plate in its adjusted position, this bolt projecting through a slot 30 in the bottom plate Ill. The upper end of the bolt and the plate may be reached through the usual hole in the oven bottom, this hole normally being closed by a plate. In Fig. 3 the plate 21 is shown in its shallow position, and the dotted lines in this figure indicate the deep position of the plate in which its margins rest in the groove 25. A similar plate 27, Fig. 3, is located at the opposite side of the partition 6 and is similarly adjustable.

With this arrangement the cross-sectional dimensions of the flues may be adjusted to suit the requirements of either kind of .fuel, thus accommodating the larger volume of gaseous products of combustion generated in burning coal and producing the higher rate of circulation required for the smaller volume of gases produced in burning oil. In using the latter fuel, also, the flow of gases is substantially confined to those portions of the flues closely adjacent to the walls of the oven, so that a more eflicient trans fer of heat to the oven is produced. In addition, a better insulation of the flues from the outer surfaces of the range is effected when the plates are adjusted into their shallow flue positions, since an approximately dead air space is provided between each adjustable flue plate and ,the outer wall of the range.

While the invention has been shown in the drawings as applied to a return flue range, it will be evident that it is equally applicable to sheet flue ranges and other range constructions in which special flue arrangements are used. The application of the invention to such constructions will be obvious from the foregoing description and from the drawings. Also, no attempt has been made in the drawings to show the common details of a range structure, such as the manner in which the back, bottom and top plates of the range are secured to each other, since these details are well known and are not material to an understanding of the present invention.

In some cases it is of advantage to flange the margins of the vertical plates 1 and 1, as indicated at a in Fig. 9, where the marginal portions of the plate I have been curved on a short radius. The edges of these curved portions rest against the stationary flanges 8 and 20 at the bottom and top, respectively, of the range, and also against the side flanges, one of which is shown at 33, thus providing a crevice or crease between these parts which may be closed by putty, sealing cement, or in any other convenient way.

While I have herein shown and described a typical embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit or scope thereof.

Having thus described my invention, what I desire to claim as new is:

1. In a range, the combination with a fire box, an oven, and a back flue for guiding the gaseous products of combustion along the back of the oven, an approximately upright plate in said back flue, and members projecting into said back flue space and cooperating with said plate to support it in different spaced relations to the back wall of the flue, whereby the effective thickness of said back flue space can be adjusted in accordance with the requirements of different kinds of fuel, said plate being accessible through holes in the top of the range in order to effect said adjustment.

2. In a range, the combination with a fire box, an oven, and a bottom flue for guiding the gaseous products of combustion under the bottom of the oven, of a plate in said flue provided with marginal flanges, the bottom of the range being deeply grooved to receive said flanges in one position of said plate and thus to support the main body of the plate close to the bottom of the range, said flanges serving also to support the main body of said plate in a higher position when the edges of the flanges rest on the portion of said bottom not so grooved, the plate in the latter position reducing the effective depth of said flue, and means for fastening said plate in the latter position.

v In a range, the combination with a fire box, 7

an oven, and a back flue for guiding the gaseous products of combustion along the back of the oven, of an approximately upright plate in said back flue, and means for supporting said plate in difierent spaced relations to the back wall of said flue and thereby adjusting the effective thickness of said back flue, said range being provided with flanges extending inwardly to be engaged by the margin of said plate when in its innermost position, and said flanges cooperating with said plate to prevent any substantial circulation of flue gases behind it.

4. In a range, the combination with a fire box, an oven and a flue for guiding the gaseous products of combustion created in the fire box into heating relationship to said oven, of a plate in said flue extending approximately parallel to the walls of the flue and adjustable toward and from one of said walls to change the effective thickness of said flue, and parts cooperating with said plate to prevent any substantial circulation of flue gases through the space behind said plate.

5. In a range, the combination with a fire box, an oven, and a back flue for guiding the gaseous products of combustion along the back of the oven, of an approximately upright plate in said back flue, means for supporting said plate in different spaced relations to the back wall of said flue and thereby adjusting the effective thickness of said back flue, and parts cooperating with said plate to prevent any substantial circulation of flue gases through the space behind the plate when it is in its forward position.

HAROLD T. HEALY. 

